


EMANCIPATION

by ivorygates



Series: Across Five Aprils [5]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Bechdel Test Pass, Daniverse, Episode Related, Episode Remix, Episode s01 e03: Emancipation, Fix-It, Gen, Girl!Daniel, Non-Consensual Violence, Rape/Non-con References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-06-23
Updated: 2007-06-23
Packaged: 2017-11-25 20:14:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/642548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivorygates/pseuds/ivorygates
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The events of "Emancipation" go a little differently with two women on SG-1...</p>
<p>If I weren't just using the canon titles, I could've called this one "Devil In A Blue Dress".</p>
            </blockquote>





	EMANCIPATION

Simarka is SG-1's third formal mission through the Gate. They're settling in as a team, getting to know each other. Still some surprises. Not all of them from the alien cultures they encounter.

The Shavadai can't find anything to fit Carter. They compromise on insisting that she veil, and wrapping her uniform in what looks like a striped patio awning.

However, they _do_ have something to fit the Doc.  
  
Carter can barely keep a straight face, and when the Doc steps out from behind her, O'Neill sees why. The Shavadai have crammed her into something blue and _very_ low cut. She isn't very happy about it, either. Her cheeks are pink with irritation and her eyes are flashing.

O'Neill can't help grinning. She looks just adorable.

#

She's almost sorry she suggested sticking around to take another look at this place, even though the culture's fascinating.

Jack is getting _way_ too much fun out of the way she's dressed.

Not that he's here right now, thank god.

And the new pharmaceuticals -- if they pan out -- should be worth something back home.

They're always being pushed to Make The Stargate Pay Off.

She knows this.

She hopes they're serving _koumiss_ at that damned guys-only feast he and Teal'c are off at.

Well, they'll be gone tomorrow.

And meanwhile, she and Sammy are spending Girl's Night Out -- or in -- with the Shavadai women.

They're most curious about Sammy, of course, because she looks so different. Tall and blonde are not common among the Shavadai. In fact, they're completely unknown.

Dani tells them that Sammy is a woman of Power among their people. That she can see into stars, and knows how to walk the roads between them. That she can see things smaller than the smallest grain of spice.

And also, that Sammy can fly.

(Sammy has flown fighter aircraft in the Gulf. Dani thinks that is incredibly cool. She still can't bear to go out on her eighth floor balcony.)

The women are agog.

"Oh, come on!" Sammy says, laughing -- at least partly because, everything Dani has said is, in its way, absolutely true. "If you're going to tell them all that about me, you should tell them about yourself, too."

"What?" Dani says.

They're eating with the other women. A communal platter. Probably not the same food the men are getting, but it isn't bad. She's becoming a connoisseur of weird alien fruit. And whatever the meat is, as usual, tastes like chicken. In this case, it _is_ probably chicken, since she's seen chickens around the camp.

"Well," Sammy says, her eyes dancing with mischief, "you're a princess, just to start with."

She nearly chokes on what she's eating, and glares at Sammy indignantly, but it's true. Kasuf adopted her into the royal house of Abydos. She is entitled to the royal _'re'_ , and to burial when she dies, rather than having her body exposed on a platform in the desert.

" _And_ you killed a god."

"Not a real god."

"If I can fly, you killed a god."

Neither of them knows that Abu is on the other side of the tent wall, listening.

#

It's time for bed. The eldest woman in the tent -- Abu's mother, Moughal's only wife; the other women here are the wives of the other men in the camp or unmarried women -- brings the two of them a special bowl. Probably a guest cup of some kind. A watery white liquid. She sniffs it.

Koumiss. She's pretty sure.

If they're being served it here, they undoubtedly got it at the banquet. Jack will try anything once. She can't wait to tell him what he was drinking.

_That for you, Jack O'Neill!_

She drains half the bowl, passes it to Sammy.

"Drink up," she says cheerfully.

#

That's the last thing she remembers until around noon the next day. She's bound. Gagged. Tied to a horse. In open country. Alone with Abu.

He's kidnapped her.

He's taking her to another tribe.

He intends to use her as trade goods.

Because she's a princess among her people, and he thinks she's beautiful.

When she gets out of this, she's going to hurt somebody. She's not sure who yet, but somebody.

#

They wrap things up with the Shavadai around mid-morning, collecting a good supply of the anesthetic herbs to take back to the SGC in exchange for a bunch of candy bars. Good thing the Doc has such a sweet tooth.

O'Neill has no idea what was in that stuff that tasted like yogurt that he drank last night, but it packed a helluva kick. Maybe the Doc can tell him.

He's sure as hell not going to mention that little incident to Carter. Not after the thing with the mead. Why is it that everywhere they go the people they meet insist on feeding them?

He goes to stand outside the women's tent. The two of them ought to be ready to go. More than ready.

"Carter? Doc?"

No answer.

He tries his radio. Several times.

Screw diplomacy and respect for other cultures.

He walks into the tent.

It's empty except for one bundle wrapped in a familiar striped awning.

Carter.

He prods her with his boot.

"Wakey-wakey, Captain."

He looks around. Where's the Doc?

Carter groans and gets to her knees. She looks far worse than he feels, and he's pretty sure that after the last time she wouldn't have tied one on again.

He starts to worry.

"Sir?"

"Carter?"

Carter looks around. "Where's Dani?"

#

A quick search of the Shavadai camp -- Carter does the women's side -- determines that the Doc is nowhere to be found.

Abu is missing, too.

Moughal finally admits -- under less-than-gentle prodding -- that Abu has probably kidnapped the Doc.

As trade goods.

Why not Carter? She's blonde. In O'Neill's experience, they always go for the blondes.

It's Moughal's wife who explains, weeping at her husband's feet. She's the one who brought Carter and the Doc the drugged nightcap. Because Abu begged her to.

They're all terrified of Carter now. They think she's some kind of witchdoctor because of what the Doc told them last night. They're sure she has the power to strike them all dead. No man would want her in his bed.

But the Doc…

She looks a lot more like the Shavadai women, just a little exotic. And she's of royal lineage. Carter told them so, last night.

O'Neill glares at Carter.

"She told them I could fly," Carter says helplessly. "And…"

And on Abydos, Dr. Jackson _is_ a princess. But this was the wrong time to mention it.

They take horses and follow Abu's tracks.

#

After a few hours ride, she and Abu reach another village.

There's a warlord there named Turghan. Not a nice man at all.

She doesn't like the way he looks at her.

She _really_ doesn't like being hit.

Abu wants to trade her for a woman named Nya. Nya is Turghan's daughter. She's already been betrothed to someone named Chimakka, another tribal leader. Abu and Nya are obviously hopelessly in love. Which explains -- though hardly excuses -- his idiotic behavior.

Turghan isn't impressed. But he wants her. Abu has done a good job of selling her: the blue-eyed princess from beyond the forest who has killed a god. Turghan gives Abu a choice: take payment in gold and leave, or die where he stands.

Abu takes the gold.

And she belongs to Turghan.

She sure as hell hopes Jack is on the way.

#

Turghan sends her off to his women. They take away the blue dress, give her clothing like their own, set her to work preparing food. Turghan assumes she's going to be easily cowed. She waits for her chance. It comes more quickly than she thought. Nya comes walking in from somewhere, crying. All the women rush to comfort her, leading her off to a tent. For a moment, Dani is alone.

She knows better than to try for one of the horses. Mongol horses are as well-trained as dogs. They can be summoned back to their masters with a whistle. She'll make her escape on foot.

But she still doesn't make it into the forest. She's caught at the edge of the camp.

#

She's back in Turghan's tent again.

Tied up again.

He has a whip.

But it isn't her he intends to beat. It's one of the women who were supposed to be watching her.

"You can't do that!" She struggles to her feet.

"These were responsible for you. Now because of you, they will be punished."

"Coward!" It's the worst thing she can think of to call him, and it gets his attention. "If you have to beat a woman, beat me! I was responsible. Nobody else!"

She does not want to be beaten.

She doesn't want to be kissed, either, but he does. There's nothing of love in it, or even sex. Only ownership. He forces her mouth open. He tastes of sour milk.

When he's done, he throws her to the floor of the tent. She can't break her fall. Her hands are tied behind her.

"I value spirit in my horses, not my women. You will learn. Or you will suffer far worse than a beating."

#

She is returned to the women. Nya comes to her to thank her. The woman she saved from a flogging was Nya's mother.

Nya does not want to marry Chimakka. Nya wants to marry Abu.

Moughal's tribe lives by trade, looking to the future. If Moughal's tribe's cultural pattern were dominant here, the SGC could set up a trade partnership with this world. Assuming the SGC was interested in setting up trade partnerships with anybody. She keeps talking to General Hammond about it, but so far her pleas -- and constant memos -- seem to be falling on deaf ears.

Turghan's people look to the old ways: war, pillage, slaughter. He'll wipe out Moughal's tribe, plunge his world into a long dark age.

There must be something she can do to help.

"I am not free to choose," Nya says sadly.

"And none of you will ever be until one of you says 'no'," Dani tells her. If Nya marries Abu, the leadership of Turghan's confederation will pass to her children. Or at least Moughal's tribe will be protected by the marriage alliance. It is a place to start.

#

The cavalry arrives around dusk. Jack and Teal'c. Moughal is with them. Sammy must be waiting in the woods. Dani hopes the camp guards don't find her.

Nya has told her that Abu is waiting for her in the woods as well, with horses. If Nya can make it back to Moughal's camp with him, there will be nothing Turghan can do to set their marriage aside. He will be allied to Moughal's tribe. They will be safe.

The Woman's Side is separated from the main camp by a curtain. Dani sets fire to it.

In the confusion, Nya makes her escape.

#

Jack has bought her back in exchange for his sidearm.

Good thing he probably has no idea who Sigmund Freud is.

She's never been so glad to see him in her life. Even if she does have to leave Turghan's camp with her hands tied.

As soon as they get back to Sammy, Sammy takes her into the woods to change.

"How bad was it?" Sammy asks, cutting her hands free.

"Not too." She rubs the back of her hand over her mouth. "He didn't get a chance to do much more than threaten to kill me several times. Can we go home now?"

"Sure," Sammy says. "The bad news is, we're going to be here overnight again. It's a pretty long way to the Stargate from here, and the sun's already setting."

"Yeah. You know, Sammy, this is the last time I'm telling anybody about my family."

"Copy that," Sammy says.

#

They make camp for the night in a thicket a few miles away. Jack amuses himself by telling her that Turghan told him that she was difficult but beautiful. That he was even considering making her a wife. She retaliates by telling him he was drinking fermented mare's milk at the feast last night. She's pretty sure she's won on points.

#

Abu's arrival wakes them all up around dawn.

Everything has gone horribly wrong.

Nya has been recaptured by Turghan.

She's going to be stoned to death.

And Jack still wants to just leave.

Dani refuses to go. It's her fault Nya ran off with Abu. It's her fault Nya is going to die now. If Nya dies -- if she doesn't marry Abu -- Moughal's people will be wiped out. All that will be left is Turghan's culture. A new Dark Ages.

There has to be a way.

There has to.

Moughal finds it.

#

She's standing in the center of the challenge circle, fighting Turghan for Nya's life. For peace among the clans. For ownership of …herself.

She is, so they have told Turghan, a chieftain. Head of a clan. They had to. He already knows she's a princess. Someone had to face Turghan in the Circle. It was her or Moughal, and he's old and crippled. Turghan wouldn't accept his challenge.

O'Neill thinks they should have just shot the guy. Carter and the Doc both disagreed.

And here they are.

They've just found out this fight is to the death.

Turghan has a knife.

The Doc picks up her walking stick.

"I want to use this." O'Neill can hear the nervousness in her voice. It ought to be terror. She's coming along at Unarmed Combat, but she can't win a fight against a man more than twice her size.

Turghan laughs. "A stick? You face me with a stick? I will beat you till you cry before I kill you. Perhaps I will spare you if you cry enough."

O'Neill lowers his hand to his gun. Forget diplomacy. Maybe he can shoot the guy before they cut his throat.

"Sir," Carter says in a low voice. "I think I know what she's going to do."

She's got a plan?

"Let's do it," he hears the Doc say.

She may be armed -- at least in her opinion -- and ready to fight, but she isn't expecting the all-out ferocity of the attack. For the first ninety seconds O'Neill watches her getting slammed around. Badly. She loses her stick immediately. She barely manages to keep from getting pinned. Or cut. She doesn't strike a single blow in return.

At least she remembers how to fall and roll.

She's lost her glasses. She forgot to take them off. Turghan steps on them.

Then she finds her stick again -- mostly by touch, O'Neill is sure, he doubts she can see it.

But it doesn't seem to matter.

It _…spins…_ in her hands as if it has a life of its own, and suddenly O'Neill realizes what he's seeing. Quarterstaff work. Right out of _Robin Hood._ The stick lashes out at her attacker. He hears it hit. It sounds like sandlot baseball. The stick gives her the reach she needs to stay out of his. It gives her strikes the power they need to bring him, dazed, to his knees.

She gropes in the dust until she finds his knife.

Holds it to his throat.

"Dani, do not kill him!" Nya cries.

"I don't want to," the Doc says levelly.

"You have won! I am free to go with Abu."

"I want to hear it from you," the Doc says to Turghan. She's staring down into his face, close enough to see it clearly. The knife doesn't waver.

"She is free to go," Turghan says, after a long pause.

"And the Shavadai?" she asks.

"By law, there can be no war between us."

"And me?"

Silence.

She presses the knife harder. O'Neill sees a trickle of blood flow. She's broken the skin.

"And _me?_ "

"You have won. You are also free to go."

She gets to her feet. Drops the knife in the dust. Backs away. Picks up her quarterstaff. Turns around, looking for the rest of her team.

O'Neill pushes the knife away from his throat and smiles.

#

They're walking back toward the horses. They'll have to spend the night at Moughal's camp tonight before going back to the Stargate tomorrow. This time, nobody's going to wear native dress. Without her stick, the Doc would be flat on her face every few steps.

"My glasses." She sounds as if she's just noticed they're missing.

"Lost cause there, Indiana Jackson," O'Neill says. She'd better carry a spare pair from now own. On the other hand, she did pretty well without them.

"What?" She sounds indignant and baffled.

"You both sorta stepped on 'em," he explains.

She makes an annoyed noise.

"And… where'd you learn to do that, anyway?"

"What?"

"With the stick."

"In college."

_"'College?'"_

"People _do_ go to college, Jack."

"To learn to fight like Robin Hood." He's pretty sure that isn't true. But they're all safe, and she's cute when she's mad, so even if she did just save their asses and the mission, he figures he's entitled to tease her. "You know, Indiana, if you're gonna keep pullin' stunts like that one, we're gonna need to get you a hat and a whip."

_"Jack--!"_

#

**Author's Note:**

> I was really suffering from the lack of a DVD player at this point (a problem remedied about the time this remix series went on hiatus, sigh...) but I must have had access to a transcript. You will notice a few fixits going on: while the Shavadai might possibly have had a blue silk dress lying around, it certainly wouldn't have fit a big strapping blonde like Samantha Carter. And whoever was wearing it, they would certainly have changed clothes at Turghan's camp. (Yes, I think about these things a lot.) And while Sam's motive for saving Nya (her name, alas, is yet more proof that TPTB have a very limited list of Character Names and see nothing wrong with reusing them) is admirable, she overlooks the (canonically-present) Big Picture that Dani doesn't: this is a throwdown between a peaceable trade/farming/alliance transitional culture and a Dark Ages barbarian. Who Nya marries determines not just her future, but Simarka's.
> 
> Teal'c is being difficult as usual, dammit: he keeps going wandering off and not being a part of the action the moment I turn my back, something I failed to correct for this time. But I have not only great love for the quarterstaff fight (another fixit, since, as the saying goes, a good big horse will beat a good little horse every time, and there's no way Sam could have beaten Turghan), but Jack's christening of Dani.
> 
> No wonder she hates those movies.
> 
> I would also like to speak in defense of Kathryn Powers, this episode's writer. She often gets slammed in fandom for being a bad writer. But she was Stargate:SG-1's executive story consultant for 1997-1998, meaning she tweaked every script shot in that period, and also wrote some of the show's best episodes. Such as? How about: Emancipation, Brief Candle, Thor's Hammer, Fire and Water, Enigma, Thor's Chariot, Family, Serpent's Song, Out of Mind, Rules of Engagement, Pretense, Crossroads, and Smoke & Mirrors?
> 
> I rest my case.


End file.
